In 1918 cadets practice shooting firearms on the UA campus. (W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, the University of Alabama)

The year 2016 marked the 100-year anniversary of the University of Alabama’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Since its inception, the mission of the ROTC has been to produce officers for the uniformed services. The ROTC was established on June 3, 1916, when Pres. Woodrow Wilson signed the National Defense Act into law, establishing both junior (high school) and senior (college or university) versions of the organization. The law allowed the president, through the War Department, to establish senior ROTC at state universities and other institutions required to provide military training as part of the 1862 Land Grant Act. The Act further authorized standard, prescribed courses of military training, requiring universities to devote at least three hours per week per academic year. The first ROTC units appeared in the autumn of 1916 at forty-six schools with a combined enrollment of approximately forty thousand students. Though the University of Alabama (UA) was not a land grant institution, by 1916 its Corps of Cadets had already existed for almost fifty-six years when the first ROTC units started appearing at other institutions.

In September 1860 the Corps of Cadets was established on the recommendation of Pres. Landon C. Garland (1855–1867). The State General Assembly and the board of trustees authorized the conversion into a military institution, adopting a system similar to the United States Military Academy at West Point. In the article on UA in the Encyclopedia of Alabama, Dr. Clark E. Center indicates that the conversion to a military institution “brought about by military uniforms and drilling, with student officers enforcing the rules, were quickly felt, and student discipline, attendance, and class preparation improved.” On January 25, 1861, the Alabama Corps of Cadets was received by the Alabama Joint Committee of the Convention and the General Assembly. According to William Smith, delegate from Tuscaloosa, the convention took a recess and watched the demonstration on the capitol’s front steps. After cadets conducted drill, the Corps was reviewed by Gov. Andrew B. Moore, Col. Caleb Huse, Commandant, and President Garland.

The Alabama Corps of Cadets participated in the defense of Tuscaloosa beginning on April 3, 1865. During that spring, cadets were sent to train and drill volunteer companies within the state. With orders to destroy the remaining southern industrial complex, specifically focused on Selma, Alabama, Union Gen. James H. Wilson executed a Calvary raid across Alabama. Wilson sent Gen. John T. Croxton to Tuscaloosa to destroy the university and any industrial buildings in the area. Traveling through Northport, the 1,500-strong cavalry force crossed the Black Warrior River, where they exchanged small arms fire with the Corps of Cadets. Realizing the cadets were overmatched, President Garland retreated the Corps back to the university, eventually evacuating toward Marion.

This opening allowed the Union Army to enter Tuscaloosa and UA virtually unimpeded; its troops ultimately destroyed all but seven of the university buildings. Col. James T. Murfee, an architect, supervised the reconstruction of the campus. The university reopened to students in 1871, with the leadership of the Corps of Cadets participating in reconstruction. The campus was not entirely closed from 1865 until 1871, but only a few students attended, and the administration struggled to find a president.

Following the June 3, 1916, signing of the Defense Authorization Act, the Montgomery Advertiser reported on October 8, 1916, that UA would become the first state school to inaugurate the ROTC.

Though the war had ended, the university remained a military institution in order to maintain discipline among the young men enrolled. Military rule continued until UA converted back to a civilian institution after the General Assembly on March 3, 1903, authorized to “abolish the military system at said institution or reduce the said system to a department of instruction.” This decision was due in part to the students’ unhappiness with military discipline and instruction and marked a technical end to the Corps of Cadets until 1916.

Following the June 3, 1916, signing of the Defense Authorization Act, the Montgomery Advertiser reported on October 8, 1916, that UA would become the first state school to inaugurate the ROTC. US Army Cadet Command, the unit that supervises all 275 Army ROTC programs, shows the date of establishment as December 4, 1916. In her book A Mansion’s Memories (University of Alabama Press, 2006), Mary Chapman Mathews writes, “The following year the United States is engaged in war in Europe, and the ROTC unit becomes the most important part of the school. The ROTC students want to abandon classes and drill all day.” She continues, “Every male in school is in ROTC, and many professors join in drills.” ROTC has had a continuous presence at UA since 1916, producing officers for every major military conflict in which the nation has participated.

Today, the ROTC remains one of the premier leadership courses offered at UA. With more than 120 cadets and contributing well over $3 million in scholarships and Army faculty, Army ROTC continues to produce officers to defend America’s national interests and its citizens from hostile nation states and non-state actors and adversaries.

Author

Lt. Col. (Promotable) Jonathan L. Goode serves as the Professor of Military Science for the UA Army ROTC program.

From the Vault

Read complete classic articles and departments featured in Alabama Heritage magazine in the past 30 years of publishing. You'll find in-depth features along with quirky and fun departments that cover the people, places, and events that make our state great!